A worker arranges sacks of rice at a local rice store in Quezon City, October 4, 2023. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

MANILA -- The maximum suggested retail price (MSRP) for imported rice will be further lowered to P49/kilo starting March 1, Saturday.

This is the first time that the MSRP on imported rice will be below the P50-mark.

However, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. clarified that the MSRP will not be implemented nationwide.

Instead, the Department of Agriculture will take a more 'surgical' approach, imposing the MSRP selectively in Metro Manila and other urban centers.

“In many provincial areas, we’ve seen prices of imported rice already lower than the MSRP. So we will apply it more selectively,” he said.

On its first implementation, the initial price was P58/kilo. This meant that the MSRP has been lowered by P9/kilo in more than a month.

The DA says this is a "non-coercive measure aimed at steering retail prices of imported rice to reflect the steady decline in world market prices."

Prior to the introduction of the MSRP, imported rice that are 5 percent broken were sold between P62 and P64 per kilo.

“We will review the numbers in the coming days to determine if there's room to lower the MSRP further. As of now, there could be scope for additional reductions, but we’ll have to see,” Tiu Laurel said.

Maximum SRP for imported rice lowered to P55 per kilo

Agricultural group SINAG said it welcomes the lowering of MSRP for imported rice.

"Konte na lang, we would reach the ideal price of P40-45/kilo of imported rice," said SINAG Executive Director Jayson Cainglet.

He said that at the current price of $380 per metric ton of 5 percent broken Vietnam rice, imported rice should further go below P40/kilo.

"It is the right time to call for the repeal EO62 and generate revenues from imported rice that is earmarked to directly support our rice farmers," Cainglet added.

Global rice prices have plummeted significantly, dropping by $146/MT from $568 on July 10, 2024, to $380 this month.